Goodall's is good stuff, indeed

I have a good friend who recently returned from a business trip to New Orleans. He visited a little magasin d'Irlandais in the French Quarter during his trip, and he brought me a couple of gifts from said Irish store.

A bottle of Goodall's of Dublin Steak Sauce was one of the gifts. I tried some on a grilled chop steak tonight. I'll admit ... I was suspicious of Goodall's sauce when I read the list of ingredients -- it has apples and dates in it, in addition to the requisite tomato purée, vinegar, and spices, neither of which are on my list of favorite things to eat.

Now, sweet is the first taste that trips o'er your tongue when you try Goodall's; but that taste is quickly muted by a strong "whang" from the vinegar and spices. In the course of about 1 and 1/2 seconds I went from thinking "This is too sweet" to "This is damn good!"

Goodall's will never supplant HP Sauce on my list of favorite steak sauces, I'm sure. However, I'm quite sure that I'll be asking my local Publix to special order me some as soon as I run out.

Goodall's is good stuff, indeed.